Dozens of homes have been plunged into darkness in a power outage in south Essex.

UK Power Networks (UKPN) has confirmed that 75 customers in the SS7 2 postcode have been affected by an unplanned power outage this morning.

UKPN became aware of the outage just after midnight and has sent a team of engineers to investigate the issue.

Power is not expected to be back on until at least 11.30am.

UKPN states that the power cut has happened due to an "underground electricity cable faulting".

Engineers are now on site, and they have warned customers they may have to dig up the road to carry out repairs.

A statement on the UKPN website said: “We are sorry for any disruption this may have caused you.

"We didn't know in advance there would be a power cut but now that we know, our teams will do everything they can to get your power back quickly."